7 Social Media Strategies Millennials on Social Media Respond To

Over 70 million millennials use social media on a regular basis – in the United States alone! At home and around the world, this is a market you can’t afford to overlook.

They are savvy consumers who are just beginning to buy houses and travel more. Millennials love a good deal when it comes their way. They are more interested in experiences than things, yet they still buy plenty of new clothes and household items.

No matter what industry you operate in, chances are there’s a pocket of millennials in your market that you can connect with. The trick is to know how to reach them by using tools like using social media.

Here’s everything you need to know to catch the attention of millennials on social media.

1. Work with Influencers

Millennials grew up when childhood stars and boy bands were all the rage, so it kind of makes sense for them to be interested in social media influencers. Social media has provided influencers with their own kind of fame and plenty of followers/fans.

These are people who have created a large audience by talking about clothes, travel, finances, or entrepreneurship, to name a few. There’s an influencer for anything these days, and you need to find the right one to work with if you want to take your millennial advertising efforts to the next level.

2. Speak Their Lingo

While it’s beneficial to have an influencer speak on your behalf, you also need to know how to speak for yourself. When you’re captioning social posts and writing ad copy you need to do so with popular slang in mind.

Some slang varies from one region of the US to the other. But, thanks to viral content and the connected world we live in, there are some terms everyone understands. Research the ones that best match your brand’s voice and use them. It will help you engage the young, hip audience you’re trying to reach.

3. Stand for Something

Here’s something millennials really love – using their voice.

If they can relate to a cause you’re passionate about, you’re more likely to create an initial buy-in and build on that to have more brand loyalty in your market. You can take a stance for the good of the planet, for social justice, or political policies.

These issues can be close to home or something that is affecting the entire world. But, you can’t choose a cause to support as a marketing gimmick alone. You have to be all about it, and millennials will be able to tell the difference if you aren’t.

They won’t fall for something you stand for one day then go against the next. They want to use their buying power to support the companies who are truly committed to creating a positive change.

4. Feature Everyday Millennials on Social Media

Another great way to use your social channel of choice is to showcase everyday consumers from time to time. This makes you incredibly easy to relate to, which helps create a long-term connection with your audience.

Instead of using an influencer all the time, repost a photo from an average consumer. Give followers a shoutout on your story or feature someone’s style as a bit of “inspo” for your audience. Maybe even run a campaign for people to submit untouched photos!

The latter is one of the best things you can do. It engages the audience beyond just a like or a comment, and it gives you access to plenty of digital content that you can feature throughout your online campaigns.

5. Offer Giveaways

Featuring other people also comes in handy when you’re operating on a tight budget. It’s a low-cost initiative to target millennials on social media that offers substantial returns.

Speaking of low-cost, though, there is no price millennials love more than “free.” You should do some giveaway contests if you have the capacity for it. Tell users to share your posts on their social media or to tag a friend; one helps you build more exposure and the other can help you generate leads.

However you want them to enter, you have to give them something that’s going to make them excited about the chance to win.

Offer a free clothing set of your new line or partner with a company that relates to your business but isn’t a direct competitor. Such prizes tend to do well with millennials, and they may just be the tool your campaigns have been missing.

6. Follow the Trends

Regardless of the main social initiative, you’re working on right now, you have to pay attention to what the current trends are. What is the meme that has people everywhere laughing this week? What stories have caught fire online?

These are things to pay attention to. Sometimes, you can take a meme that’s popular and use it in relation to your brand. Or, there may be a hot story happening right now that directly relates to the cause you’ve taken a stance to support.

Such content is user-made and highly-engaging. It can do wonders for your campaign if you stay on-trend and catch onto things before your competitors do.

7. Be Authentic

Last but not least, be authentic. This will make or break your campaigns. You can try to be on-trend and connect with the right influencers as much as you want, but without a loud and proud brand voice to show for it, you’re out of luck.

Your voice is what keeps users coming back, no matter what it was that got their attention in the first place. It’s the main thing they connect to, especially when you express your values or share your company culture with them. Focus on this first, then use the tips on how to target millennials mentioned above.

More Social Media Insights for a Millenial Audience and Other Consumers

It’s great to know how to reach millennials on social media, but what if they aren’t the only people in your market? Do you also make products for Gen X or Gen Z? Are you interested in reaching people who are on the cusp of being considered a millennial or not?

This age group and the ones on either end of it are mixed together more often than they should be. Make sure you have your target clearly defined before moving forward.

For more social media tools to help you reach millennials and other audiences, click here.